consultants and Engineers

About three months ago I attended An Amazon Web services event. It was a nice event. It was a very good event. Plus, we got to eat and later party like its 1999. And a month later I attended another event at in3 Howard. That’s when I saw the tech evangelist. She is one amazing speaker. She later showed us how to create a chat bot on AWS. I was impressed. I said to myself I can do that. This blog came form there. And the other day amid searching for jobs.

AWS deployment in short is a fancy way of saying we are learning a new and efficient also more importantly fun way of doing things. At least that what I would assume. A new technology comes in saves as tons of time, it is secure, but I still have some questions about that. Then there is the actual implementation, learning curve, business optimization etc. It requires a talent pool of its own.

A guy like me fits in there perfectly. It seems like you need the knowledge of just enough code. For some reason it is hard for a traditional engineering guy to get that. I for instance am still resistant to it. I feel like anything between the squiggly brackets to be painful. It is a self-inflicted wound. It is complete lack of interest aws as a result.

AWS has a management console web portal. Anyone can sign up for free, learn using the tutorials and then build. I still have a dragon boat app that is still in the works. I wonder if I can deploy this app and how long it would take me to do it. This blog will follow that format. I had already created an account before.

The first step is to sign in. The console page has all the services. It can be a bit overwhelming for a first time. After a bit of navigation, I found a tutorial on building a web app. It is a good start to sort of know what you are looking for and what you are building. I am a dragon on a dragon boat and I want that handy app to determine the optimal weight. Attached are some of my drawings. Insert picture of thinking pad.

I chose to build a web app. Next, I entered build a serverless mobile backend. I chose that randomly. It said serverless so assumed there is one less thing. That kind of aligns to my principle of doing more with less. Let’s see. Oops it turns out I cannot do that because I don’t have iOS. The serverless option is only good for that operating system.

The tutorial is straight forward. There is the little nuisance of jumping from one page to another. My browser is set up to open it in a new tab whenever I click on a highlighted link.

I selected the android platform. There was a spark of joy when I saw java. Ok road block again. The deployment is for an already existing up. It is to cloud enable the app. I don’t have an app yet. I am building one from scratch. It is taking some time. This is real time learning and application. It helps if you are pair programming. Also, a bigger screen to look at multiple browsers would be ideal. This is where you get tested. can you comprehend quick and apply? Either way persistence pays off. Unfortunately, this did not happen in a quick New York minute. Let’s see if I can figure this thing out. I am on my second hour now.

It turns out I must download android studio. While researching that I logged into my google console. I realized that I have $300 in credit. I may use that to launch my app. But I still don’t know how this thing works completely. Android studio is a large file. The setup is taking forever. Android studio has not completely downloaded yet. Its been over two hours. I did set up the AWS backend. I named the app dragonroot. This is the first step.

I am back at it after an hour. I had to take the bus from Adams Morgan to Southeast DC where I live. The downloading finished at home. I was the only one on the network, so the downloading did not take long. Or it might just be that most of it was done when I left Tryst.

I started the Android app. The name is PaddlesUP. It is straight forward to set up the user interface. I just heard a new programming language. I remember hearing it when a couple of weeks ago at a job interview. I guess this was what he was talking about. According to Wikipedia Kotlin is a statistically typed programming language that runs on the java virtual machine and can be compiled to JavaScript source code.

So basically, there you have it. I don’t have a functional up yet. But I do have a working prototype. And currently the app is WIP (work in Progress).

This is a quickie motivational blog. Its motivational in a sense it is a precursor to other work to be done. It is also a quick review of an article form a personal perspective, I have limited knowledge of blockchain technology. Considering the recent spike in INTEREST IN THIS technology I wanted dive in a bit and explore the fundamentals of the technology and possible application solution opportunities.

Illegal use of content especially when it comes to music has been an issue for some time now. It is claimed that blockchain technology can solve piracy issues in digital music. I assume the technology can be effective where security is of the highest concern in the content transaction.

Ben Dickson @BENDEE983 at TECHTALKS SAYS BLOCKCHAIN COULD completely transform the music industry. Blockchain technology solutions can be applied in three areas. The first is licensing and rights management. Many start up and nonprofits are testing this area. The idea is once it on the ledger the owner is known to the public and innovations in smart contracts can enable users to license the music for various purposes.

It is happening at 193 words on page one of my blog. It beats playing chess online.

The second area is in removing intermediaries. This timeless concept of feeding the producer more than the middleman can simply be done yes you guessed it. It’s done none other than removing the middleman. The things you can do in an hour. You can fly from DC to NY I less than an hour. You can do a lot in an hour if you are not distracted

The third solution blockchain technology in music is piracy. Every instance of a song played is a unique record on the blockchain, and any content removed or “ripped” from the codec would be unreadable to the player. I can’t help it.

The above is quiet a list. I can imagine some major opportunities that realm. It helps to understand the fundamentals of the technology as related to specific industries.

Blockchain technology won’t be limited to cryptocurrency. Even your old school brick and mortar credit union will eventually jump on the bandwagon because the technology it seems for now is unmatched when it comes to digital security.

There are implementation challenges out there. That is the work. I have to say its interesting. Block chain implementation strategy your choice of industry is a topic to explore.

What do you think? Where do you see this going?

Right now, you can buy Bitcoins for cash at an ATM on 14th st nw located inside an Amsterdam Falafel shop. The falafel guy knows about it. You should too.

Embedded systems are most directly defined as computer systems embedded inside larger systems. But that does not capture the reason these systems have emerged as such active research and commercial targets. By their very nature of being located inside a myriad of systems, embedded systems span a wide range of system requirements. If there is one unifying characteristic, it is that the design goals are often wildly at odds. For example, most portable communication devices require supercomputer-class processing capabilities for audio, imaging, and video processing, but must run on a very limited battery power supply and fit in a pocket-friendly form.

Compounding this are the often tight cost constraints and very aggressive time-to-market requirements. These conflicts are why embedded systems present such interesting research and commercial challenges.

Many embedded systems execute real-time code and have complex hardware accelerators attached. The real-time software often has gaps or holes in its schedule that a programmer can exploit to reimplement the complex hardware accelerators in software. But the gaps are often too fine-grained for a simple, dynamic, process-context-switching solution.

A hot new thing is always in demand, but some developer skill sets simply don’t go out of style. Recent research states that the five highest-searched skill terms for software developer candidates are:

Java / J2EE: The Java platform retains its place as the most in-demand skill for software engineers — which isn’t all that surprising considering how many applications and systems are powered by Java.

.NET: Microsoft’s user-friendly framework comes in second, thanks to an overwhelming majority of businesses that run on Microsoft.

C++: This high-level, general-purpose language is versatile enough to remain in demand.

C#: Designed in the tradition of Java and implemented primarily on Windows, C# is the fourth most sought-after skill set.

SQL: Database software is a primary objective for numerous businesses, especially those looking to capitalize on Big Data — so this database language enjoys high demand among employers.

In addition to HTML, “web,” C, and Linux, these skills are essential must-haves for businesses across every industry, and demand for them won’t drop any time soon.

emerging software skills

In addition to core skill sets, Current and near-future technology development in fields like the Internet of Things and wearable tech are fresh new compared to core skills.

Some of these are:

Mobile technology, including Android and iOS platforms

Embedded systems and the Internet of Things (IoT)

Robotics

Wearable technology

Hadoop

Big Data

We are Software developers with mastery of traditional platforms, who’ve incorporated these hottest emerging skill sets. We trive in any the modern business environment as our software engineers also have a great business sense and strong soft skills.

We understand the skills needed to have to succeed in today’s IT environment, and can fulfill all the requirements of your business.